#InsideSouthAsia | For years, Bhutan was marketed as the world's happiest kingdom, snow-covered Himalayas, ancient monasteries and not a single traffic light, but behind the postcard image, something's off. Is Bhutan emptying?
@kripatistic tells you more
Attended an interesting conversation with @nitingokhale focusing on economics and security conundrums.
The finance bros were stumped on the impact analysis of the global insecurity scenarios.
Overheard a few of them searching for Defence stocks to invest in. #money
The most awaited moment is finally here. We are beyond excited to unveil the official theme song of 88.4 FM Radio Sikkim Sundari. The soul of our hills and the voice of our people. Let the rhythm take over Sikkim! #RadioSikkimSundari#HumareHillKiDhadkan
https://t.co/Wp8VH65vjT
All discussions on Exercise Tiranga (the name for deliberations and discussions on establishing Integrated Theatre Commands between the CDS and the three service chiefs over three years) have concluded, CDS Gen Anil Chauhan tells me at the Fireside chat at the end of Day I of Ran Samwad 2026. Admits there are still some differences but says the final plan will now be presented to the Raksha Mantri and then to the CCS before operationalising the Theatre Commands. The entire hour-long chat will be made available by @HQ_IDS_India soon. @BharatShaktiBSI@StratNewsGlobal
We spent a year reverse engineering a part for one of the three services. Even built a sample and showed it to them. The ONLY company to do that.
Lost out on the bid because apparently, we didn't have the production line to make the part. This, when we had already mentioned that we would invest in the machinery.
How can we indigenize when you come up against bureaucracy??
:THREAD:
Folks, sharing my thoughts on #Dhurandhar2TheRevenge. As I said in this tweet below, INTENSE is the word.
It is quite a bit different from Dhurandhar1, in my opinion. I'll try and explain how and why.
Let's see how it goes ..
The Indian Army is pushing to end the "trial trap" that often bankrupts domestic defense startups.
Service Headquarters have formally proposed a ₹250 crore annual Field Exploitation and Capability Acceleration (FECA) fund to the Ministry of Defence. Currently, under 'No Cost No Commitment' trials, startups bear the full financial burden of testing, frequently exhausting their savings if prototypes are damaged or destroyed in harsh, high-altitude conditions.
The FECA fund aims to provide critical risk support and finance small initial orders to evaluate new tech. As one Army official explained, the goal is "covering costs during trials and field use, including damage and other expenses that startups currently have to bear on their own."
US Airforce: We had to bomb two C-130s, but we got our pilots back.
Our Airforce: All our Pilots are back home safely.
Journalist: Saar forget the pilots, tell us how many jets we lost Saar
Russians have started integrating R-60 air-to-air missile onto Shahed drone kamikaze drones (a move that could open an entirely new can of worms.)
This blurs the line between UAVs and air-to-air combat platforms, potentially complicating air defence doctrines and engagement rules.
In 1905, Einstein published special relativity. In 1915, he published general relativity. Einstein was just trying to understand the universe.
But without Einstein's math, Google Maps would be wrong by 11 kms every single day.
Let me tell you why - this is very interesting :))
Your phone doesn't "talk" to GPS satellites. It only listens. Each satellite is broadcasting one thing, constantly: "I am satellite 'A', and it is currently 14:23:00.000000."
Your phone receives signals from 4 satellites simultaneously. Because light travels at a known speed, tiny differences in arrival time tell it exactly how far it is from each satellite.
'A' satellite tells you: you're somewhere on a sphere of radius 20,000 km.
'B' satellite: that sphere intersects another sphere - now you're on a circle.
'C' satellite: that circle intersects a third sphere - now you're at 2 points.
'D' satellite: eliminates the last ambiguity and only one point remains.
That's you!
Except there's a problem nobody thought about until Einstein.
The satellites are orbiting at 20,200 km altitude, moving at 14,000 km/h.
Two things happen to their clocks simultaneously:
- Special relativity: Moving clocks tick slower. At orbital velocity, the satellite clock loses 7.2 microseconds per day
- General relativity: Clocks in weaker gravity tick faster. At that altitude, gravity is weaker. The clock gains 45.9 microseconds per day.
Net effect: 45.9 - 7.2 = +38.7 microseconds per day.
In 38.7 microseconds, light travels 11.6 kilometers.
So without correction, the system would accumulate 11.6 km of error. Every single day. In a week, your navigation is useless.
The fix is one of the most elegant things in all of engineering.
Before each satellite launches, its atomic clock is physically tuned to tick slightly slower than it would on Earth - by exactly 38.7 microseconds per day.
Once in orbit, relativistic effects speed it back up. And it arrives at exactly the right rate.
Einstein's 1915 paper is baked into the hardware of your phone's navigation system.
The next time Google Maps routes you correctly, you're experiencing general relativity.
You just didn't know it.
Jim Hacker: Humphrey, we have to do something about Iran.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Prime Minister, the government is already doing a great deal.
Jim Hacker: Such as?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Monitoring developments, coordinating with allies, reviewing contingency plans and expressing concern.
Jim Hacker: That all sounds like nothing, Humphrey.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: On the contrary, Prime Minister. In diplomacy it is vital to appear active without becoming involved.
Jim Hacker: The Americans are bombing things, the Iranians are firing missiles, the Strait of Hormuz is practically closed and we’re… appearing active?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Precisely.
Jim Hacker: Innocent people are dying, Humphrey!
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, Prime Minister. That is why the Foreign Office is drafting a very strongly worded statement about it.
Jim Hacker: A statement won’t stop a war.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: No, Prime Minister, but it will ensure that we are on record as having been extremely concerned while it was happening.
Bernard Woolley: If I may, Prime Minister — the Cabinet Office has identified six possible courses of action.
Jim Hacker: Good! What are they?
Bernard Woolley: We can condemn the escalation, call for restraint, urge negotiations, support our allies, assist defensive operations or participate directly.
Jim Hacker: And what do they recommend?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Supporting our allies.
Jim Hacker: That sounds suspiciously like participating.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Oh no, Prime Minister. Participating means fighting. Supporting merely means allowing others to fight from places that technically belong to us.
Jim Hacker: Humphrey, if Iranian missiles hit one of our bases, we’ll be in the war anyway!
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes, Prime Minister, but we shall have entered it with the invaluable diplomatic advantage of being surprised.
Bernard Woolley: It’s generally considered the safest way to enter a war, Prime Minister.
Jim Hacker: How on earth can that be safe?
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Because if the war goes badly, we can say we never meant to join it. And if it goes well, we can say we were there all along.
‼️🇫🇷 MAJOR OPSEC FAILURE: The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle was located by Le Monde journalists through the Strava app of an officer jogging on the ship's deck…